Ramblers looking for another strong baseball season

BOYNE CITY - The Boyne City High School baseball team picked up right where it left off.

Coming off their second straight district title and a sparkling 25-5-2 record, veteran coach Beano Archey believes his team is capable of once again making a strong postseason push.

"The season we had last year was nice," Archey said. "We caught some breaks, but these kids are capable of winning 20 games and we'd like to be a factor in the (Lake Michigan) conference race and in our district.

"We have some things to work on, but I believe we can do that. I wouldn't discount them."

With a 10-2 overall, 4-0 league record heading into Thursday's doubleheader at Grayling, Archey is pleased so far with his team's progress.

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"So far, so good," he said. "We couldn't ask for a much better start to the season. Right now, pitching has been key. It's really come along as has our defense. We went four or five games without an error and for as early as it is, that's good."

Leading the pitching corps are juniors Caleb Helsley and Ryan Hennessy, and seniors Nick Follette and Justin Houck.

Also back are middle infielders David Austin (who hit .450 last year) and Drew Mittig, both of whom earned all-league honors in 2003, as well as senior first baseman Tylor Daniels.

"Drew Mittig is hitting the ball really well right now and he's doing really well defensively," Archey said. "We've also gotten good leadership. We don't have a lot of seniors, but the ones we do have lead well. Tylor (Daniels) has been doing a great job for us. He's the hardest working kid on the team."

When not pitching, Houck plays third base; while Helsley plays at shortstop to round out the infield.

Follette, who's battling a hand injury, is the catcher, while Hennessy is the backup backstop.

"Ryan's doing a nice job and so is Tyler Kruzel, who we just brought up from the JV team," Archey said. "He's filling in pretty well."

Junior Josh Aown can play in the outfield, pitch or at first base; while newcomer Kaleb Baudoux is another versatile player.

"We lost Darren Looze, our center fielder, to a hockey injury," Archey said. "That was a big loss for us. He was an all-district player last year and he's a great player and a great person. He's a nice person and he's there every game cheering his teammates on. I think we miss him more as a person on the team than a player."

Archey said his team is still learning as the season progresses.

"We're learning to put the ball in play in runners in scoring position," he said. "We're learning to do the right things and if we can keep our heads in the game, most of the time we're pretty well off. It's just the little things we have to do well in order to be successful."

Softball

More often than not in softball, defense can carry a team.

Such is the case for the Ramblers this season as a strong defensive team has given the Ramblers a strong 7-3 start.

"With the exception of one game against Maple City Glen Lake, our defense has been pretty solid," coach Sandy Clausen said. "We're a team that's going to play solid defense and we'll have to generate some runs on offense to win games. We don't have girls that can pitch 65 mph, but we do have girls that can throw strikes."

"Emily is a tough ball player and she may see some time as well in the outfield," Clausen said. "She's (Friedrich) little and quick."

Boys track

Tom Nagurka, in his 18th year as the coach, believes his 26-man team can be successful once again this season.

"We measure success by improving upon where we were a year ago at this time," Nagurka said. "I tell all of our athletes that in a sense, they are competing against themselves in that they are trying to improve upon their previous best times, heights and distances.

"If they do improve, it has been a successful season and the points for the team take care of themselves."

The Ramblers will have 14 returnees including 13 seniors.

"I have never had such a heavy preponderance of seniors on a team," Nagurka said. "It really helps to have that kind of experience to help the younger ones along as it provides them with a lot of leadership and guidance."